Restaurateurs around the city are making game plans on how to handle the possibility of 20 inches of snow falling on Philly this weekend, potentially impacting service well into early next week.
“It’s devastating for most restaurants,” said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of strategy and engagement for the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. “I would anticipate revenue loss of tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars for Philadelphia restaurants over the next few days.”
For smaller restaurants, Fileccia estimated the impact could be around $5,000 a day, while larger spaces could suffer a daily hit of up to $20,000.
The storm, which falls right in the middle of Center City District Restaurant Week, could be the biggest blizzard the city’s seen in a decade or more.
Just the idea of snow can make diners hesitant.
“It’s been over 10 years since we’ve had this much snow predicted,” Fileccia said. “Even a forecast of a couple inches — immediately makes people cancel their reservations.”
Kareem McCafferty, president of The Schulson Collective, which oversees restaurants including Alpen Rose, Double Knot and Via Locusta, said that the restaurant group will be monitoring the weather over the weekend.
Closing down is not out of the question. Ultimately, McCafferty said, the group will make safety the priority when it comes to making decisions.
“For diners, we encourage them to check our websites, [and] more so social channels for the most up-to-date information,” McCafferty said.
Anyone who cannot make their reservation at a Schulson Collective restaurant due to weather will not be penalized for doing so. What’s more, if the restaurants need to shut their doors, diners will be notified through the reservation service Resy. McCafferty added that staff will do their best to rebook guests for another time that’s ideal for them — within reason.
“Alpen Rose, which is one of our boutique steakhouses, is an 11-table restaurant, right? It’s always packed and it books 30 days out, as soon as reservations become available,” McCafferty said. “I can’t say that I’ll be able to promise 7 p.m. on a Saturday on Valentine’s Day.”
Henry Chow, the general manager of Sang Kee in Chinatown, said that his restaurant is also anticipating closing if the weather is as bad as forecasts predict.
“We’re planning on ordering a little bit less ingredients — a lot less duck than normal,” Chow said. “We don’t want to have ducks sitting there and not being able to be open and roast it and serve it. So preliminarily, we’re planning on possibly being closed both Sunday and Monday.”
As for Sang Kee’s reservations those days?
“We’ve actually already called all of them,” Chow said. “We preemptively canceled it because we don’t like to let people down.”
“We will open”
Temperatures this weekend are expected to be about 20 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, and with the predicted snowfall, driving could be unsafe. Still, not every restaurant is anticipating being closed on Sunday.
Paul Puma, co-owner of Ants Pants on South Street, is looking to stay open for what he called his “bread and butter” — the weekend brunch shift.
“We will open,” Puma said. “This is the livelihood of a lot of our employees.”
“Philadelphia is very walkable, so we do have people who live close by,” he added. “And we’ll keep our sidewalk clean to the best of our ability.”
Puma is expecting the day to be slower than most, with staff running at about half capacity. He is grateful for his neighborhood and the regulars who he believes are more than down to trek a couple blocks in the snow to come in.
The only way he anticipates Ants Pants shutting its doors is if the power goes out.
Corner bars in the city will likely fare better than more traditional sit-down spots. While diners might not be able to drive across town for a sit-down reservation, they could be willing to trudge a few blocks to grab a cozy drink.
Chef Andrew Henshaw at Jaffe Bar plans to stay open in spite of the storm. The majority of Jaffe’s staff lives close to the restaurant, he said, and can walk to work.
“Closing was definitely discussed,” he said. “But we just kind of thought and hoped that the people that are closest in proximity to us, and hope that they want to come and hang out at Jaffe.”
Henshaw said that escaping your house, even when the weather is brutal, and finding community can make for a more memorable dining experience.
“I used to go out when I was younger,” Henshaw said. “A snow day was always a really fun time to just get together with a few friends and go somewhere cozy — grab some food, grab some drinks, just kind of hang out.”
How to support restaurants
Nano Wheedan, owner of Taco Heart in South Philly, said the restaurant is still figuring out how they are going to handle the storm. The goal, as always, is to give the community a space to get out of the house and enjoy something “warm and delicious.”
“Most likely, we’re going to give our staff a choice of whether or not they want to come to work,” he said. “We expect it to be very slow, but we don’t want to deny our staff the chance to have hours.”
Unfortunately, even if Taco Heart is open, Wheedan is uncertain if the restaurant will be able to provide delivery services to customers.
“So much of our business is DoorDash and Uber Eats,” he said. But he also knows there may not be enough delivery drivers working and able to get through the snow.
“I think a lot of people are going to try [ordering in], because they’re not going to want to leave their houses, but that’s something that we might have to turn off because it’s just not possible.”
Because of this, Wheedan said there is definitely financial anxiety for the days ahead.
“This week is gonna stink,” he laughed. “This is bad. This is not good, and January is already really tough. So this is just adding insult to injury. But, you know, we have to zoom out and make up for it later on somehow.”
Restaurants that do stay open may have altered or limited menus, as regular grocery deliveries to establishments could be impacted.
“We’re hoping that restaurants are keeping an eye on how much they’re ordering,” Fileccia said. “And making sure that their food and their equipment is protected in case of power outages, that type of stuff — making sure their employees are safe, whether they’re working or whether they’re staying home.”
As for Philly diners, Fileccia had some advice.
“Plan ahead,” he said. “If you don’t think you’re going to be coming into town, give that restaurant notice. Cancel appropriately ahead of time.”
What’s more, Fileccia said that during any kind of potential shutdown like this, Philadelphians can always provide support in other ways.
“It doesn’t hurt to buy a gift card,” he said. “It’s an interest-free micro loan to the restaurant that you love and to the hospitality team that treats you so great.”